Make it Work
by KingandPawn
Summary: "I see the way he looks at you. The way his eyes light up every time you walk in the room. How a complete stranger can see the way he gazes at you and know that he is completely and irrevocably in love with you. Most girls would be thrilled to see this... so why is it you always look so guilty?"
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new Bleach story! This takes place after the Rukia Rescue Arc. Rukia is going to Ichigo's school and living in his closet but his family doesn't know about her yet.**

**Disclaimer: I will only say this once. I do not known Bleach!**

**Enjoy!**

"You make me wanna dance! Yeah! Love and sing and Dance!" Rukia sang as she jumped around Ichigo's room, bobbing her head to the song that blasted in her ears.

"Rukia nee-san! What're you doing?!" asked Kon as he ran up to the petite Shinigami. Unfortunately, the music prevented her from hearing his cries. She was unaware of his presence as she "danced" around the room, ending in the flattening of Kon against the floor as one particular hop landed with her foot in the face of the small stuffed lion. Kon groaned in pain under the weight of the violet-eyed girl as she took off the headphones and looked down at the mod soul with an excited smile.

"Kon!" she said, picking him off the ground and dusting him off. "Look at this device! It's amazing!" she said, proudly showing him the blue iPod she had "found" in Ichigo's backpack.

"It's a small metal box that plays music!" she explained, very excited with her discovery.

"Th-that's great Rukia." Kon agreed as his head lolled side to side, still in a daze. Rukia, satisfied with his reply, happily turned her music back on, resuming her recent activities of jumping around, this time dancing with the stuffed lion in her arms. After the dizziness passed, Kon grew comfortable as he was hugged to the chest of the Kuchiki.

_'Mmm. Cozy.'_ he thought with a content sigh at being craddled in the bouncing bosoms of the dancing girl. _'Not as big as Orihime's but still, very, very cozy.'_

"Oh! This is my favorite part!" she cheered, interrupting his inner musings. She held out her arms, spinning in big circles as she sang along to the vamp of the song. Kon screamed as he flailed in the air at the speed of her turns, growing dizzier and dizzier as the walls of the room spun around him at an alarming rate. Rukia, completely oblivious to his state, continued to sing and twirl happily.

"You make my heart beat beat beat, like a drum! Badum, Badum, _Badum_!" Kon started to feel the girl's grasp on him slipping and wasn't surprised when he flew from her grip. He crash landed on Ichigo's desk, successfully knocking over more than a few items, only alerting the energetic girl when the resounding sound of shattering glass echoed off the walls of the room.

Rukia immediately turned her head to the source of the noise, her eyes widening when they locked in on the broken pieces of a frame, scattered across the floor.

"Oh no." she said, turning off the music as she ran to the frame. "Oh no! Oh no!" she fruitlessly attempted to fit the small shards of glass back into the frame.

"Kon! Look what we've done!" she exclaimed, shaking the toy, that had just about had enough.

"We?! I believe you're the one that flung me across the room in to a hard, painful desk!" he yelled, however immediately softening when he saw the genuine guilt in the Shinigami's eyes.

"You're right. You are not to blame. This is all my fault."

"I'm sorry Rukia nee-san! I didn't mean to make you feel bad! I'll take the blame! All of it!" Kon cried dramatically, jumping into the small girl's arms.

"It doesn't matter who takes the blame!" she yelled, shoving him back to the floor. "Ichigo's gonna be crushed when he see's what happened!"

"What's the big deal, can't he just buy a new frame?" Kon asked, rubbing his sore, plushy, head. He'd been through a lot in these past few minutes.

"No! Yuzu made him this frame for his birthday! She sculpted it and painted it all by herself." She explained as she dusted the shards of the glass from the Kurosaki family photograph which, save for a small tear in the right corner, was cometely intact. The frame had broken into three large pieces, and the gold paint had been, chipped in a few places. Though the glass cover was completely shattered, the frame could be saved. "We have to fix it!"

"What do you need me to do, nee-chan!" he asked, loyally.

"Do you think you could glue the pieces of the frame back together while I go out and get a new glass cover?" her request earned a determined nod from the mod soul, that immediately went to work searching for the glue. The Kuchiki gave him a small, appreciative smile before running out the door to complete her task.

* * *

Rukia returned to find Kon frantically fanning the now, intact frame, more than likely trying to get the glue to dry.

"How's it going, Kon?" she asked, hoping all was well.

"The glue isn't that strong. It can stand just fine, but once you lift it, it'll just fall to pieces again!" Kon explained, frantically fanning his arms harder.

"We'll just have to make sure Ichigo or anyone else doesn't lift the frame until I can get stronger glue and we can glue it properly. For now, we'll just have to do our best to keep Ichigo as far away from his desk as possible until it is completely fixed." she said as she carefully turned the frame over and placed the glass and photo inside before sealing it with the cover.

"There!" she sighed as she gently placed it back on the desk. "Good as new!" she said, admiring how, save for a few, barely noticeable chips in the paint, the frame really did look pretty much the same as before the incident. "Great job, Kon!" she praised as they high-fived.

"Now remember, mums the word." She reminded him, putting a finger to her mouth as he nodded in understanding.

She suddenly heard the sound of the front door opening and immediately jumped into her closet as she listened to the conversation on the floor below.

"That was some family picnic!" Isshin explained as he busted through the door of his own house with an ear to ear grin. "If only you could've been there, my beautiful wife. Especially so you could see me defeat our brooding son in frisbee!" he exclaimed with tears in his eyes as he caressed the photograph of his deceased spouse. His musings were interrupted, however, by a hard kick to the side that sent him flying several feet.

"That's only because Karin was catching all of my throws you useless old man!" he cried after successfully pummeling his father.

"Oh Masaki! See how our children treat me?!" he cried dramatically as Ichigo and Karin rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for cooking, Yuzu. The food was great, as usual!" Karin praised with an apporving nod from her older brother as all three children ignored their sobbing father on the ground.

"It's no problem! I love cooking! Especially when it's for my family." Yuzu replied with a humble smile. Ichigo effortlessly dodged a flying kick from his father before turning to walk to his room.

"Well I'm gonna head to bed." he said with a wave.

"You sure go to your room a lot these days." pointed out Yuzu. Karin smirked and Ichigo immediately dreaded her comment.

"Yeah, are you hiding a girl in there or something?" Karin joked with a teasing smirk, failing to realize how spot on she was. He withheld any signs of nervousness as he replied,

"Nah! I just like to get away from this imbecile as much as I can." he said pointing to Isshin who was still complaining to their long gone mother. "Anyway, see you guys at dinnertime." he said as he turned and continued to walk to his bedroom.

As he opened his door, he immediately sensed that something was amiss. He looked around his room, taking note that everything was in order and wondered what could trigger this strange feeling. He closed the door behind him before calling to his secret roommate.

"Rukia, I'm back." he said, opening his closet door only to see Rukia lying on her "bed" bobbing her head to music on _his_ iPod! He marched up to her, and snatched the plugs from her ears with a glower. She looked up at him, completely unperturbed by his piercing glare as she only smiled up at him politely.

"Oh good! You're back! How was the picnic?" she asked as she skipped past him out of the closet.

"Don't try to change the subject." he ordered in annoyance. "I've been looking for this!" he said, gesturing to his iPod.

"Yay! You found it! You want a cookie?" she asked sarcastically as she pulled a manga out of one of his drawers.

"Must you be so irritating?!" he exclaimed angrily before seeing exactly what was in her hands. "And you should not be buying this type of manga!" he scolded, ripping the Icha Icha series one book from her hands.

"Hey! I was about to read that you know?" she grumbled as he pulled some clothes out of his dresser.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I stopped you. Do you know what they do in those books?"

"No, you snatched it away before I even got to the action parts!" she exclaimed, earning herself a confused look from Ichigo. "Look, if you think the manga is too violent for me, I promise, I've probably seen worst." she explained.

"Icha Icha isn't... this is... nevermind, just don't buy any other mangas from this author." he ordered as he finished gathering all his clothes and stormed out of the room, ready to shower. Once the door shut firmly behind him and his companions heard his footsteps disappear down the hall, they turned to each other and smiled.

Operation distract Ichigo so he doesn't get suspicious? Success.

* * *

"Rukia, you've been acting strange all week." the orange-haired teen stated randomly as they walked home from school one day.

Ichigo's words caused the small death god to stop in her tracks, sweatdropping under the heat of his gaze. She had been acting strange? She was just trying to make sure he didn't get to close to the frame on his desk. She could've sworn her diversions were flawless! I mean all she did was tell him he should do homework on his bed, lead him to fake hollow alerts when he asked too many questions, kick him when he got to close to his desk, or pull out Hentai manga when he got suspicious. What about that was strange?

The Shinigami pushed her thoughts to the side and gave the teenager the most natural smile she could muster.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I've been perfectly normal, Ichigo! And the fact that you're suggesting otherwise is very insulting." she accused, her forced scowl twitching as she stared into his knowing amber eyes. This wasn't working!

"Something's bothering you, there's no use in hiding it." he stated firmly, fixing her with an intense glare. "Spill it, Kuchiki."

_'I should've known I couldn't hide this from Ichigo for long. I live with him for Pete's Sake!' _Rukia thought frantically. The thought of what he would do when he found out made her sweat. If there was one thing Ichigo cared for above all else, it was his family. He'd be so angry! He'd never forgive her for what she (and Kon) had done to Yuzu's picture frame!

"I'm waiting, Rukia." Ichigo said with crossed arms.

No! She refused to let that happen! She refused to let this ruin her relationship with Ichigo. She needed to come up with a lie that would satisfy him, and judging by his impatient body language, she needed one fast.

But what? What could she possibly say that would explain the way she's apparantly been behaving this past week?

And then it hit her.

"I like you." she blurted just as Ichigo was about to speak. He rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Okay? Now are you about ready to tell me what's been bugging you all week?" Rukia glared at the red head, as a vein pulsed in annoyance. The idiot probably thought she meant it platonically. How dense could he get?

"No Ichigo. I mean I really like you." she added firmly, hoping he would understand what she was trying to tell him. Hell, she might as well speed things up and be blunt about it.

"I like you _more than a friend_." she "confessed" with a fake blush. She stared at the ground with practiced shyness, nervously avoiding his gaze. This was how the girls in some of her manga confessed. She stole a quick glance at Ichigo's shocked, slightly blushing face, and knew she had replicated their actions perfectly. Despite her flawless execution of a believable confession, warning signals were going off in her head. _'Mayday! Mayday!'_ rang in her ears, warning her of impending doom. But her plan was flawless, what could go wrong?

She would confess, making him believe that was why she had been acting weird, and Ichigo, who clearly harbored no romantic feelings for her, would reject her. She would feign disappointment, asking him if they could still be friends to which he would happily comply and everything would go back to normal. It was the perfect plan!

"Rukia, I-" his voice cracked as he spoke, and Rukia could clearly see the nervousness he felt.

_'Aww, poor kid's probably feeling bad about rejecting me. I'll try to make this easier on him.' _she thought before letting out a small sad sigh and gazing up encouragingly at the Substitie Shinigami.

"It's perfectly ok that you don't feel the same way. I just wanted to let you know how I feel. That's why I've been acting strange all week but I'll be back to normal now that I got that off my chest!" she gave him a small smile before turning to walk away. That had gone perfectly! Better than she'd expected! She inwardly rewarded herself for her outstanding acting skills, smirking at her success. As long as she made sure she didn't act weird around Ichigo anymore, her secret would be safe, and Ichigo would have no reason to suspect she was lying.

"Rukia! Wait!" she heard him call, causing her to stop in her tracks. What could he want now? She turned to see him walking up to her and was surprised to see a light blush on his face.

"What's got you all flustered? I'm the one that just confessed!" she teased in an attempt to lighten the mood and show him that things haven't changed between them. And for a long time, or what felt like a long time for Rukia, nobody talked. It was easy to tell that a lot of thoughts were running through Ichigo's head at once. Her heart pounded in her chest as she hoped he would believe her lie. She almost sweat at the embarrassing thought of him telling people about her confession.

"Look," he started after what felt like an eternity, ignoring her previous comment. "We've known each other for a while, and... and I guess I've come to enjoy your company _sometimes_." he stated with a scowl. Rukia almost rolled her eyes at the pitiful rejection. It was like something straight out of a manga. The guy reminices about their relationship, compliments the girl and then tells her that's why he thinks they should just be friends. It never quite made any sense to her, and it made even less sense that Ichigo called her back for it. Maybe he felt he owed her an explanation for not reciprocating her feelings?

"I mean, you're kind of annoying, you can't draw for shit, you're stubborn as hell, and I'll never have a normal life again because of you-"

"Is all of this really necessary?!" she asked, all but growling with irritation. Even though she didn't harbor any romantic feelings for him, it didn't make it any less irritating that he couldn't even find the decency in him to deny her a bit more gently. As his words sunk in, she became even angrier and gave him a hard punch to the head.

"And there is nothing wrong with my drawings!" she exclaimed, defiantly crossing her arms. When would he come to appreciate her beautiful art?

"Ow! See what I mean?! Just shut up and let me finish!" he yelled, rubbing the sore spot on his head as he and Rukia glared harshly at each other.

"What I was trying to say was that despite you being all these things _and more_..." he dropped his gaze to the ground, the firmness in his voice fading as he continued.

"You are annoying, but truthfully, I never have a boring moment with you. And no, you can't draw for shit, but I'll always be able to tell your art apart from everyone else's. You're stubborn, but, hell, so am I, and I don't think you'd be able to deal with me if you weren't too..."

And that was it. Rukia gulped as all her senses were halted by a certain foreboding. This couldn't be what she thought it was... could it?

_'This doesn't sound much like a rejection anymore.'_ a short thought passed through her mind, though it was immediately slaughtered, and all traces of it destroyed before it could fester and place anymore doubt in the Soul Reaper's mind.

_'No! That can't be! Ichigo's always just had a weird way of expressing himself! This is a rejection! Rejection! Rejection! Rejection!' _she thought determinedly.

"And no, I'll never have a normal life again, but if it wasn't for you, my dad, my sisters, and probably I would be dead right now, and for that, I can never fully repay you." The light blush on his cheeks unwillingly returned, and it looked like it took everything in him to speak his next words.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

_'Rejection! Rejection! Rejection!'_ She'd perish the thought that Ichigo's words could possibly be a-

"Maybe I like you too."

A confession.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! I have this whole story outlined and each chapter is mapped out, so how long it takes for me to update will mostly have to do with how much feedback I get. I'm writing this story, not only because I like the plot, but because I want to improve my writing skills. I can only do that if I receive constructive criticism. Please PM me if you are, or know, a good Bleach beta. **

******Can you guess who is going to say the quote in the summary? And did anyone catch a reference to a certain other manga? Tell me if you did!**

******Thank you for reading!**

_"At the end of the game, the King and the Pawn go into the same box." _


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, this chapter came out a lot slower than I would've liked. I had major writers block, and of every chapter in my story outline, this one had the least info, so it was harder to write. Hopefully, since I know more of what's going to happen in the next chapters, I will get them out quicker. I will try to make an update schedule. Untill then, my New Years Resolution is to update at least once every one or two weeks. Thanks to all that reviewed! I really appreciate it!**

* * *

"So do you wanna... I don't know, give it a try?"

"No."

"No?"

"No! No, no, no, no, no! You were supposed to say _No_!" she cried, clearly in a state of shock and denial. This was not supposed to happen. This is not how her plan was supposed to turn out. She had never seen any behavior from Ichigo that would imply he had feelings for her! How could this happen?

"Why would you _want_ me to say no?" he asked, the question bringing her back to her senses.

"I-I just think we should stay friends."

"That's stupid. If we both like each other, why wouldn't we at least see if we could be together?"

"I... you... b-because I didn't want a relationship! I just had some feelings I wanted to get off my chest." she stated with a huff. What was that? Her millionth lie that _half an hour_?! Why did things always get so overly complicated with him? "Besides, I don't think you'd be a very good boyfriend anyway."

"You can't just assume that, midget!"

"You just called me a midget! Good boyfriends wouldn't do that!"

"We clearly don't have a very normal relationship."

"Well maybe I want a normal relationship."

"Tch, good luck with that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, in order to have a normal relationship, you have to be normal yourself, which you most definitely are not." he was genuinely surprised when she kicked him in the gut, causing him to fall over.

"How dare you call me abnormal? Maybe _you're_ the abnormal one!" she yelled causing the tall teen's eyebrow to twitch in irritation.

"Says the rabbit-obssessed, midget death god that can't draw to save her life!"

"Says the oversized, orange-haired freak with too much reiatsu for his own good!"

They glared at each other for a few moments before Ichigo stood straight and dusted himself off.

"You know, for someone who _'likes'_ me, you have a funny way of showing it." he said before continuing on his way home. Rukia followed at his side, seething at their latest argument.

"Maybe it's because I'm so _abnormal_." she spat back bitterly. The substitute shinagami only glanced at her briefly before shaking his head muttering _'typical'_ under his breath walking just a bit faster as they trekked home. Rukia had to jog just a bit, willing her short legs to keep up with his long ones. They walked in silence at first, but after the anger had subsided, the violet-eyed soul reaper began to really think about her actions. She looked at her companion and saw that he was slightly tense. He walked looking straight ahead and his jaw and shoulders looked just slightly stiff, only enough that someone as observant as her could tell.

"Ichigo... are you alright?" It was silent for a few moments and all the two high schoolers could hear were the sounds of their footsteps and the cars passing by. It was unbearable for the ebony-tressed hollow-slayer. Every moment of silence that passed, she became more and more consumed with her regret.

"Yeah. Why the hell wouldn't I be?" he said, finally breaking the short-lived silence that felt like an eternity. "We just had another one of our yelling matches. Nothing's changed."

She sighed, berating herself for the way she had reacted. He had just mustered up all his confidence to confess to her only to be called an oversized, orange haired fre-... Rukia cringed at the memory of her harshness. The silence was unbearable, and she knew Ichigo was one to hide his feelings in order to keep up appearances. She couldn't help but feel that she had been very harsh and inconsiderate, proven by the guilt swelling inside of her.

She looked back up at the emotionless face of her comrade. To anyone else, he was the face of indifference, but Rukia could tell. Just as she couldn't hide things from him, he couldn't hide things from her and she could see the glint of disappointment in his eyes and the slightest of frowns. Her stomach churned with guilt as she quickly looked away. She had hurt him, and she wasn't sure how to fix it without digging a deeper hole for herself.

She had an idea, but she wasn't sure she really trusted any of her _fool-proof_ plans anymore. The last one had ended in disaster and she had no reason to believe this one would turn out any different. But as the silence between them dragged on too long and Rukia began to feel suffocated by the weight of her guilt and the tension between them. She spoke out, taking a huge risk as she put her latest plan in motion.

"...One date." she said so quietly, it was almost a whisper.

"Huh?"

"One date. I'll give you one date to impress me." she spoke clearer, her eyes glued to the ground as she awaited his response.

"You're the one who confesses and _I_ have to impress _you_?"

"Take it or leave it, Strawberry."

"I don't want your pity."

"Because I've always been one to hand out pity favors, right?" she asked sarcastically. "Besides, like you said before, I confessed first, I just don't think you have what it takes to impress me." She taunted. For a few moments, it was silent between them as Ichigo contemplated her words. She watched him anxiously, as she awaited his reaction to her request. The Kurosaki household was coming into view and when they were a few feet away from reaching the front door. She was happy to see a smirk light up his face.

"Fine, it shouldn't be hard. You find the mechanics of _juice_ _boxes_ impressive, I don't see why a date would be so hard."

"Yeah, but I have a short attention span so make sure you don't bore me to death." she stated, immediately scolding herself. Her plan was to go on the date, make sure it was as bad as she possibly could make it, and hope by the end of the day when she denied being impressed with the date, he would agree that it was a bad outing and accept her offer to just be friends. Besides, she knew of teenage hormones and believed his feelings for her were merely the result of them. How hard could it be to deter him from a small crush he had on her. Unfortunately, she had a feeling she had just given a big clue on how he could genuinely impress her.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said before disappearing behind the door of his home. Rukia was left outside, the guilt gone, but re-acquainted with the strange feeling of foreboding she had felt before.

_'I need to learn when to shut up'_ she thought bitterly as she made her way to his window.

This couldn't end well.

* * *

Rukia lay in Ichigo's closet staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. She was nervous about the day's upcoming events. After all that had taken place the day before, she wasn't sure how Ichigo was going to act, or how she should react. She contemplated how he might behave based on some of the manga she's read. Would he start to get nervous around her, or maybe he would avoid her because she made him feel self conscious. She remembered many characters that had become suave and chivalrous and had met their lovers with bouquets of flowers, holding doors open for them and pulling out their chairs, though she doubted Ichigo would ever do anything like that. She surely hoped he wouldn't become like this one character who had become a lovesick puppy after getting together with his love, nothing but a drooling slave to her beauty and charm. No, Ichigo was too opinionated and stubborn for that. Maybe he would-

"Oi! Midget! I brought you breakfast!" her head turned to the unmistakable sound of Ichigo calling her through her closet door. The sound of his voice made her throat close up, she absolutely dreaded this moment.

"Rukia?" he called, continuing to knock on the door.

How should she act towards him? What should she say?

"I don't know what you've heard about beauty sleep..."

Should she be flirty? Feign shyness? No, he would see right through that.

"But it doesn't matter how long you rest, you're not gonna wake up any prettier!" Now _that_ caught her attention.

"_What?!_" She cried in outraged as she slammed the closet door open, only to be greeted with the sight of a smirking Ichigo holding a plate of food. She had taken the bait.

"Good, you're up." he said, still smirking as she stormed angrily over to the plate of food. She snatched it away from him and was stopped by his next words before she could return to her closet.

"Now eat your breakfast so you can grow big and strong like all the other kids!" He said, patting her head as if she were a small child. His reply was a knee to the gut that caused him to fall to his knees, immediately wiping the smirk off his face. In his new, kneeling position Rukia stood before him, looking down at his crumpled form.

"_Don't_ talk down to me." she ordered before returning to her closet with her meal.

"Someone's not a morning person." he grumbled with a scowl as he picked himself up and went to the bathroom to get ready for school.

Rukia heard him leave and let out a sigh. She was strangely pleased with the morning's events. Everything had turned out exactly how it might've on any other given day. It was almost as if yesterday had never happened. Maybe it had to do with the fact that they weren't _actually_ in a relationship. Still, she had thought their relationship would be awkward and strained after the previous days events. But to her surprise...

Nothing had changed.

* * *

**Not a fan of this chapter, but it gets better. I have the entire date planned out and some of it written. I can't wait to share it with you. Next chapter, or the one after that. Sorry this was so short, I promise it will get longer. **

**I would really appreciate your constructive criticism! Please review! They will be rewarded with a faster update!**

**Thanks for reading! Have a Happy New Year!**

_"At the end of the game, the King and the Pawn go into the same box."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I took so long to update. Thank you to all that reviewed, subscribed, and favorited this story! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: On Our Way**

"Hey, Rukia! Wake up!"

"Good Morning to you too." She said grouchily. Ichigo was right, she really wasn't a morning person. "Can you put a hat on or something, looking at your hair this early in the morning is making my eyes hurt."

"Just shut up and get ready, dwarf." He said as he made his was over to his drawers to get out some clothes to change into. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the comment, but she was too irritated to start an argument.

"Why do we have to wake up so early just to go on a date anyway? Whatever it is, can't it wait until the afternoon?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." He said smirking before he made his way to the bathroom. "I actually woke you a little late, so hurry up." He called one last time before exiting though the door. Rukia sighed. She hated having to be woken up for school in the mornings, so she absolutely despised it happening on the weekends.

_'What was so important that it couldn't wait until noon?'_

Though the question had been asked in annoyance, it merely succeeded in sparking her curiosity. What _was_ so important that it _couldn't_ wait until later? What did Ichigo have planned for their date? There weren't too many things to do in Karakura.

_'I have been asking him to take me to the ice cream shop so I can finally taste ice cream... Maybe that's what we're doing.'_

She momentarily pondered the thought, but shook her head realizing he probably wouldn't wake her up early just to get ice cream.

He did once tell her about this little lake at the park that looks absolutely gorgeous when the sun hits the water. She figured he might take her to see it or maybe even set up a picnic there. She smirked at the thought, hoping he did. Surely the beautiful scene wouldn't capture her interest for too long considering her short attention span. She truly hoped he ignored the accidental warning she had given him the other day.

Rukia slowly and reluctantly started to drag herself out of bed to start her daily grooming routine. She decided on wearing a light lavender shirt and a pair of white Bermuda shorts since it was supposed to be warm that day. She grabbed her toothbrush and went to the Kurosaki bathroom Ichigo had already started brushing his teeth. She brushed the teeth of her gigai in silence. All was peaceful until Ichigo stuck his toothbrush into the flowing faucet water just as Rukia leaned slightly to spit. Ichigo glared in disgust at his saliva covered toothbrush before giving his small companion a look of disgust.

"Woops." Rukia stated monotonously before continuing to brush her teeth. Ichigo only rolled his eyes and proceeded to cleanse his toothbrush of Rukia's DNA.

"Ichi-nii?" they heard a small voice call outside the door. Both of their eyes widened and Rukia immediately dove behind the shower curtain.

"Uh, yeah, Yuzu?" Ichigo replied, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

"Ichigo, what're you doing up so early?" the young girl ask in confusion.

"Oh, uh, you know. I'm just gonna hang out with one of my friends today." he stated with rushed nervousness. Rukia rolled her eyes. He was such a terrible liar.

"Oh really? Would he like to come over and get some breakfast before you guys go? I really wanted to make some chocolate chip pancakes!"

"No, we can get food on our own. Now quit asking so many questions." he stated, finally calming down enough to lose the anxiousness in his voice.

"Hmph. You're being grumpy this morning. Your friends love my cooking."

"Yeah well, we're going to be late, we don't have time to eat."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know." Ichigo rolled his eyes at the lecture he was about to get. "You and your friend should be able to take a few minutes to-" suddenly the small girl stopped midsentence. Only silence could be heard on the other side of the door. Both shinigami raised a questioning eyebrow at the pause and after a few seconds, Ichigo cracked the door open to see his sister sprouting a mischievous grin.

"Yuzu?" he asked wearily.

"You're lying." she accused.

"What? Why would I be lying?" he asked, only causing his younger sibling's grin to widen into a bright smile.

"Because Ichi-nii has a date!"

"_ICHIGOOOO!_" the boy in question sidestepped the tackle, causing his father to crash into the shower curtain.

Rukia let out a small squeak as Isshin's form hit the wall, nearly an inch from her body. Luckily, the shower curtain covered Isshin's sight, and didn't sway enough to reveal her position to Yuzu. Isshin jumped away from the tub, swaying slightly before falling forward in a fit of tears. Rukia gulped at the small dent he had made in the wall.

"Oh Masaki! Our son has finally found a woman to warm his cold, lonely heart! He is becoming a man!" the widower cried with joy to late spouse. His musings were interrupted by a kick to the gut by his eldest child.

"Quit talking about me like I'm not here!"

"She has yet to warm his heart, but it will in time and he will appreciate his dear old father."

"You're the one who attacks his own children!"

"Will all of you shut up?" yelled an irritated Karin as she appeared in the doorway. "Some people actually sleep in on the weekends."

"But, Ichigo has a date!" Yuzu exclaimed.

"No I don't!" came his futile protest as Karin already raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Really? Is it with Orihime?" Ichigo's frustration subsided into confusion at the comment.

"Huh? Why would it be with Orihime?"

"Aww, Nii-san is so clueless!"

"Girls! We will deter Ichigo from reaching the peak of his manhood no longer!" Isshin declared, shooting up from his spot on the floor, concussion forgotten. He gave his son a reassuring pat on the shoulder and smiled.

"Now you go out there and show that girl a good time!"

Ichigo, wanting to take the opportunity to escape while he could, he only rolled his eyes muttering, _'Perverted old man.'_ under his breath as he ran away from his psychotic family members. Eventually, the Kurosaki's dispersed to complete their respective activities, Yuzu to make breakfast, Isshin to cheer for his son with his wife's portrait, and Karin to sleep. Once they had all gone, Rukia took the opportunity to dip back into Ichigo's room. When she arrived, he was wearing plain jeans, and a white T-shirt with a single horizontal stripe that faded from red to yellow, going across his chest. He also had a small blue knapsack that hung over one shoulder and her natural curiosity immediately caused her to wonder what was in it.

"We're going to have to rush. My family's gonna be watching me leave through the window, so get on the sidewalk through the neighbor's backyard, two houses down and we'll walk to the bus stop." he ordered curtly before leaving.

As she left the room through Ichigo's window, she again wondered where they could possibly be going.

* * *

"Hmm." Rukia started as the large bus pulled up to the stop, less than a minute after they arrived. "I've never been on a bus before." she stated, jumping slightly at the sound the doors made when they opened.

"It's not a big deal." Ichigo stated as Shinigami and Substitute got on the bus. "Just stay in your seat and don't touch anyone." she nodded in understanding and they sat in the seats in the middle of the bus where the windows were cracked open. Rukia had been correct when she said it would be a warm day and though the bus was only occupied by a few people, the heat still seemed to fester just as much as if the bus had been full. Rukia gave the windows a dissatisfied frown as she saw how small they were cracked.

"Can't these windows open any wider? I'm boiling in here." she grumbled.

"No, the windows are made so they can only open a certain distance so nobody can fall out or something." he explained, pulling a bottle of water out of the knapsack and handing it to her. She grabbed the ice cold bottle of water hungrily and put it to her thirsty lips only to feel a wash of disappointment when one single drop of moisture fell on her tongue. She looked in the clear bottle to see that the liquid had been frozen solid.

"Ichigo!"

"I knew it would be hot and I didn't want the water to get warm too soon but I guess I left it in the freezer a little too long." he explained defensively. The girl let out a frustrated growl before slamming the bottle against the seat in an attempt to break the ice. She stopped, however when she received glares from Ichigo and the other passengers. She was not only hot, hungry, and thirsty, but she was also getting restless from sitting still for such an agonizingly long time.

"How _long_ have we been _driving_ for?" she whined, using the back of her hand to wipe some sweat from her forehead. Ichigo rolled his eyes before saying that they had only been traveling for about ten minutes. Ten minutes too long if you asked Rukia. Who cares if it was still only about half past ten in the morning? Ichigo should've just taken her to get some ice cream. Where in the world were they going anyway?

Rukia decided to check on the progress of her water bottle to see that a small puddle had formed at the bottom, giving her a satisfying sip's worth of cooling refreshment. However, frustrated with having to wait ten minutes before every sip (though granted, she had only done it once) she simply stuck the top of the bottle in her mouth and rubbed her warm tongue against the ice in the container to make it melt faster. She only sucked on the bottle a few minutes before it was abruptly snatched away by a blushing, orange-haired teen.

"_What_ is your problem?" she asked with irritation. She was finally making progress in melting the ice!

"Why are you sucking on the bottle like a little weirdo!" he stated, flustered.

"Don't talk to me like that." she threatened with a glare, pouting when he put her precious bottle of ice back in his bag. She looked around the bus for another way to cool herself. She turned slightly and next to her she saw a strange window with a red lever poking out of it labeled _'Emergency Window.'_

Whether it was the desperation for cool air, or the lack of food, sleep, and refreshment affecting her, the only thought she could derive from the situation was _'This is an Emergency.'_ And with that, she stood from her seat and pulled the window from its latch on the wall of the bus. She was immediately met with a refreshing rush of cool air from the open window as well as gasps from the other passengers.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" she heard the bus driver yell in the bus.

_'Ooo, somebody's in trouble.'_ she thought with a snicker as she wondered who the bus driver could be yelling at smiling as the wind brushed against her face. As mentioned before, the logical part of her mind has been clouded by hunger, thirst, and lack of sleep.

She reveled in the joy the cool breeze brought to her overheated body. Her elation was short-lived, however, when two firm hands grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away from the window.

"Rukia! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ichigo growled.

"You two teenagers in the back! Come up here!" cried the handler of their source of transportation. Ichigo's head dropped and his face adopted a look of irritation as he dragged Rukia to the front of the bus by her wrist.

"Just let me do the talking." he ordered as they walked to the front causing Rukia to roll her eyes.

"Because that worked so well this morning." she stated sarcastically, referring to the Kurosaki escapade that was a direct result of his terrible lying skills. Despite the comment, she complied with his wishes, figuring she had caused enough trouble. She had finally came to the conclusion that _maybe_ the bus driver didn't believe her reason for opening the window constituted as an emergency.

The bus driver pulled into a parking lot for a movie theater and opened the bus doors.

"You hoodlums are getting off my bus this instant."

"Aww, they were really entertaining." They heard someone mumble from the remaining bus passengers.

"Please sir, try to understand." Ichigo started, taking on a pleading look. "My friend here is a foreigner. She was just really hot and didn't understand that she wasn't supposed to open that window. I promise we won't cause any more trouble." Rukia decided to give the man her sweetest puppy dog eyes for good measure.

The man looked back and forth between the two teens before sighing.

"Fine. I'll give you one more chance. Make sure you teach your little foreign friend what they are and aren't supposed to do or she might get hurt, ok?" Ichigo and Rukia smiled at each other before giving the bus driver a reassuring nod.

"Thank you, sir. I'm sorry about your window and I promise not to cause any more trouble." Rukia stated with a smile before turning to sit.

The bus driver gave Ichigo a questioning look, wondering why she had just spoken flawless Japanese if she was apparently 'foreign'.

"Oh! Did I say she was foreign? I meant mentally retarded!"

* * *

"Why? Why couldn't you just keep your mouth shut?" Ichigo asked, clearly exasperated.

"I couldn't just walk away without apologizing! That's rude!"

"You were supposed to be a foreigner!"

"It's still rude."

"Now we have to wait an hour for the next bus to come!"

"How far is this place anyway?" Ichigo sighed. They exited the movie theater parking lot and got back on the sidewalk.

"It's three hours away." he replied, causing Rukia's jaw to drop. "But now it's gonna take four hours because we have to wait an hour for the next bus!"

"Where the hell are you taking me that's three hours away?!" Her question was momentarily met with silence as they walked down the road. Rukia couldn't deny feeling slightly impatient.

"Let's see if we can find a bus schedule." was her only reply. Rukia rolled her eyes, but also felt guilty. She was the cause of all the troubles they were facing this morning, and Ichigo was still being calm with her. She had no reason to be giving him an attitude. Then again, maybe the series of unfortunate events were actually destiny. Maybe this was just what she needed to deter Ichigo from ever wanting to date her again. She sighed. Still, even she had to admit she was being quite a handful. She didn't want to stop Ichigo from talking to her altogether. She ceased her sulking and helped Ichigo go store to store it see if any of them had a rack with maps and bus schedules. After a few minutes, they finally found one in a cafe and Ichigo read that there was a bus fourteen blocks away that was arriving at its stop in twenty minutes.

"Ichigo, I'm not in the mood to run fourteen blocks." she stated looking around the cafe. "Why don't we have our date in here? It's very cozy and it's air conditioned!" If they had their date in here, Rukia could easily say she was unimpressed and not be lying. The cafe was simple, cute, but nothing special. Unfortunately, Ichigo was not having it.

"I worked too hard just to give up. You're the one that said to keep you entertained on our date, and that's exactly what I intend to do."

_'Dang it, he remembered that.'_ she berated herself for telling him that in the first place. If not, they might have been peacefully sitting in the Karakura ice cream shop right now. Despite her predicament, she was touched by his determination to please her. However, his success in this area meant they would start dating, and that was not an option.

"Look I'm sure our date will be just as good here as anywhere else. It's not where the date is that matters, it's-eek!" she let out a cute yelp as she was swiftly lifted and thrown over the orange-haired boy's shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but you were talking too much. Precious time was being wasted."

"Put me down, Ichigo!" she cried as he ran down the sidewalk with his knapsack on one shoulder and her slung over the other. He was maneuvering through the crowd surprisingly swiftly for someone with so much extra baggage.

She stopped struggling when she realized Ichigo was going to take her to wherever it was they were going no matter what, so she might as well get a free ride there. After settling down, she noticed all the strange looks she received from other pedestrians and she decided to assure them that she was not being attacked or kidnapped.

"It's ok." she stated.

"I'm not being kidnapped or anything." she reassured before realizing that may have sounded sarcastic.

"It's fine." she decided to repeat to anyone that gave her a worried glance or looked like they were about to call the cops.

"It's fine."

"Will you quit saying _'it's fine'_, to every single person we pass!" he ordered, slightly out of breath.

"People were giving us weird looks! We'll never get to the date if you get arrested for kidnapping!" she retorted. Ichigo paused for a moment before smirking to himself.

"You're right, with your height, people might think you're some kid that I'm trying to kidnap." his chuckle was cut short when he was kneed in the stomach by the small girl currently draped over his shoulder. He faltered for a moment, but kept his footing and continued running.

"I can just drop you if you keep bothering me, midget."

"Really? I don't believe it's proper to drop a companion on their head on the first date." Ichigo smiled at the joke but the light moment was interrupted when the tall boy suddenly broke into a sprint. Rukia couldn't see, but she assumed the bus was only a short distance away. Guilt immediately washed over her as she realized that he actually carried her fourteen blocks in the hot sun without stopping. She suddenly couldn't wait to be put down and she sighed in relief when they finally reached the bus stop.

He carried her into the bus and the bus doors close right behind them. Ichigo sighed in satisfaction, finally setting her down and catching his breath.

The bus driver raised a questioning eyebrow at them as if to ask if he should be concerned about their entrance.

"It's fine." Rukia confirmed with a smirk, earning a glare from Ichigo.

After they took their seats, Ichigo pulled a sandwich out of his little blue knapsack and began to eat. Rukia stared at him in shock as he happily munched on his snack. After a few moments, Ichigo realized he was being watched and he looked over at the surprised Shinigami.

"What?"

"You had food the whole time."

"Yeah. I knew we would be  
traveling for three hours. What did you think was in the bag?"

"If you had food, why didn't you give me any?" she inquired. Though she knew what his response would be before he even replied.

"You didn't ask." there was a small pause as Ichigo took another bite of his ham and turkey sandwich. Since Ichigo made the sandwiches, they were probably all ham and turkey. She wasn't even sure if Ichigo remembered what her favorite sandwich was. It was unlikely, but it didn't hurt to ask either.

"Is there a peanut butter and banana sandwich in there?" she asked, and her face lit up when he smiled and nodded his head.

"With a little bit of maple syrup?" she continued, hopefully.

"Of course, how else do you make a peanut butter and banana sandwich?" He replied with a smirk.

Rukia almost jumped for joy when he pulled out the wonderful snack. The frozen water bottles made it so the peanut butter didn't melt and though the bread was a little soggy, she didn't mind in the slightest.

"You do realize I'm the one who showed you how to make peanut butter and banana sandwiches in the first place right?" she waited until she finished chewing and swallowed her bite before replying.

"Yeah, but I didn't know if you remembered that it was my favorite."

"Hmm, it's a weird combination. Kind of reminds me of Orihime." he stated and I nodded in agreement as I chewed the bits in my mouth. He took another bite of his own sandwich and ate a bit before continuing.

"I thought of it when I was like seven because I was bored and hungry so I decided to put a bunch of my favorite food together. I actually found a lot of combinations I liked."

"So when we were on that other bus, how did you come up with a foreigner lie on the spot like that? I was surprised considering you're the worst liar ever."

"You say that like you're some kind of professional liar." his joke caused guilt to once again wash over the violet eyed death god. This whole date was the result of a big fail of a lie.

"Besides, I didn't come up with it on the spot. I knew you would do something stupid, so I spent the whole bus ride coming up with a good alibi." Rukia rolled her eyes, but more or less ignored the jab.

"Hmm, but I guess it wasn't really a lie." she stated thoughtfully. He momentarily contemplated this before nodding his head in agreement.

"True. I mean, you _are_ kind of foreign to the human world."

"You lied when you called me mentally retarded though."

"Did I? Did I really?" he asked jokingly.

"You better have." she stated with a small laugh as she playfully punched his arm. He winced at the hit. He knew Rukia was trying to be playful that time, she just hit too hard for her own good.

"I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble and then made you have to carry me 14 blocks. I've been nothing but a nuisance all day." she was surprised when Ichigo pat her on the head with a smug smirk.

"No worries. You were the lightest thing I ever carried! You probably weigh less than my school bag, midget." he assured her. "Can't deny you being a nuisance though." Her eyebrow twitched in irritation, but she took another bite from her sandwich to help refrain herself from lashing out at him.

"You did keep things interesting though. I bet you were the highlight of the passengers on that other bus' day. They probably miss you already."

Rukia smiled at him before a certain thought caused her to give him a small frown.

"It's hot in here. Can we open a window or something?"

Ichigo facepalmed.

**I loved writing this chapter. It was so much fun. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I adored writing it. Whenever my family and I would go on vacation, my mom would always freeze the water bottles. When I was thirsty, I had nothing to drink and I spend all my time desperately trying to melt the ice. I had to put it in there. **

**The date is next chapter. In my outline, this and the date were supposed to be one chapter, but it was getting long and the date is pretty long so I decided to split it. I am in pumped writer mode, so you might get the date later tonight, if not, it will come soon. The more reviews I get, the more likely it is that I will update sooner! Please give me your feedback and constructive criticism!**

**Also, since I'm in that kind of mood, I'll do a little contest. The first person who can guess where Ichigo and Rukia's date is going to be can appear in the next chapter. Every reviewer gets one guess. This contest is only open for readers that have an account so I can PM you.**

**Thanks again for reading!**

_"At the end of the game, the King and Pawn go into the same box."_


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm SO sorry I took so long to update. Not only was this the busiest summer of my life, but my outline isn't thorough as I first thought. I intend to fix that and do my best to make sure the next chapter gets out much sooner than this one did. Thank you to all that reviewed, subscribed, and favorited this story! Enjoy!**

"You make me wanna dance! Yeah! Love and Sing and Dance!" Rukia sang as she bounced around in her bus seat.

"Rukia, this is the seventh time we've listened to this song!" he complained. Not that he was keeping count.

"I really love it!" she stated a bit louder than necesary, still dancing to the music. They were sharing earbuds, one was in Ichigo's ear, the other in Rukia's, and they listened to Ichigo's iPod together on shuffle. However, unfortunately for the orange-haired teen, the iPod insisted on playing this stupid repetitive song that Rukia was in love with over and over again and she never failed to yell at him everytime he tried to change it.

_'What's the point in having over 400 songs if it keeps repeating the one you hate.'_ he thought bitterly.

"You make my heart beat beat beat, like a drum! Badum, Badum, _Badum_!" she sang the vamp with a smile. The smile must've been contagious, because Ichigo couldn't control it when the corners of his mouth turned up as well. Despite his annoyance, it was nearly impossible to brood when Rukia was so happy.

_'This stupid iPod better play some Beethoven when this dumb song ends.'_

Right when the song was about to end, however, the music stopped altogether. He looked over at Rukia to see her lift the blue iPod and show it's black screen.

"Battery died." she explained curtly. Ichigo groaned. So much for Beethoven.

"Ichigo, let me use your phone to play a game." she commanded.

"No. We're really far from home, and we need this in case there is an emergency. I don't want the battery to die." he explained, looking out the window. "Besides, we're almost there anyway."

Rukia sighed, settling on playing with a small thread of string protruding from the left leg of her shorts. She twirled the small thread around her finger, until eventually, it snapped. She briefly glanced out the window and watched as the buildings around her seemed to fly by. They soon ceased, however, when the bus halted at a stop light. She quickly grew bored of the still buildings, and continued on her search for something to occupy her attention.

"Ichigo!" she exclaimed randomly, startling him from his thoughts.

"What?" he asked, slightly annoyed with her unnecessary exclamation of his name.

"I'm bored." was her terse complaint.

"Well what do you wan't me to do about it?"

"Entertain me."

"We're almost there. Can't you just sit tight for a few more minutes?"

"I tried that! You could at least talk to me like you did at the beginning of the bus ride."

"Fine, what do you want to talk about?" She contemplated this for a moment before she seemed to decide on a suitable conversation.

"Do you like anyone?" she asked, her inquiry causing a blush so light, she would've missed it if she didn't know any better, to dust Ichigo's cheeks.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" he asked as he turned his head away from her with an annoyed scowl.

"Sorry, sorry. I was just trying to think of things the girls like to talk about during lunch time." she said as she remembered that, no, they weren't out as friends, and the predicament they were in was proof enough that it was indeed _her_ he fancied.

"Is that what you girls talk about?" Ichigo asked, turning his gaze back to her with a raised eyebrow.

"We talk about other things too, but that seems to be the gyst of most human girl's conversations, that is, until Tatsuki demands we talk about something 'less pathetic'."

"That's Tatsuki for you." he said with a somewhat endearing smirk that strangely made Rukia annoyed.

"We also play games sometimes." she stated in an attempt to shift the topic. "Like...um..." she scratched her head as she attempted to remember the name of the game, feeling it on the tip of her tongue. "Oh! One game we play is called 'Would you rather?', you give two scenarios, and pick which one you would rather do." she explained as the orange-haired teen merely nodded his head.

"Yeah, I've heard of it."

"Good! So ask me one!" she really did love this game, except when the girls had to try to make it romantic and ask her if she would rather kiss Ishida or Chad or some other combination of boys.

"Would you shrink and become so tiny, you could fit in the palm of my hand, or grow to a size so large, you couldn't even fit one foot inside the Kuchiki Manor." she merely thought for a couple of seconds before confidently choosing her preference.

"Clearly, I would grow. Even though it would be hard to get around, I could slay hollows much easier in that form." she concluded with a nod of her head, while Ichigo merely smirked at her reply.

"Is that why, or does your answer really reflects some secret desire to be taller?" he teased, snickering at her annoyed reaction.

"I'll have you know, I am perfectly secure about my image, including my height!"

"Oi! But your words are meaningless compared to your subconscious!" the

"Well in that case, would _you_ rather be forced to live the rest of your life with your hair the color bright pink or black." she asked, wiping the smug look right off his face.

"That's not-!"

"Just answer the question, baka!"

"Black." he replied grudgingly, rolling his eyes as he already anticipating her response.

"Hmm, could your answer reflect some secret desire to have normal colored hair?" she mocked with a self-contented grin.

"That doesn't count! You can't have one answer reasonable and the other one completely ridiculous."

"And it isn't ridiculous to think that I would choose to be helpless and tiny? Being a giant was the only reasonable choice in my case as well!"

"You wouldn't be _helpless_, you could still use your zanpaktou."

"What am I gonna do with it, boke? Freeze the tip of someone's big toe?" she retorted, surprisingly eliciting an amused grin from her orange haired companion. Before the 'conversation ' continued, the bus lurched to a stop, and Ichigo looked up to see that they had finally arrived at their destination.

"Looks like we'll have to finish talking about our subconscious desires later. We're here." he announced as he gathered their belongings and prepared to exit the bus. But when Rukia looked out the window, she merely saw the same sight of shops, cars, and people hustling down the sidewalks as she had seen the entire bus ride.

"Umm, Ichigo? Where are we?" she asked, giving the bus driver a thankful nod before stepping down the stairs. She failed to notice the hand Ichigo offered to help her down, nor his slight embarrassment and annoyance at her rejection of it.

"Well, we're not at our destination _exactly_, we still have to walk a couple of blocks until we get there." he explained. Rukia merely nodded in reply, hiding her slight annoyance at _more_ traveling behind an indifferent expression.

"Don't worry midget." picking up on her irritation despite her attempt to hide it. "We'll get there soon enough."

* * *

"Oh my Nii-sama!" she exclaimed. And he couldn't be happier with her reaction. After the three hour bus ride, they had to walk about a mile until they finally reached a large parking lot. When they first entered the cement lot, all they could make out were some shapes and lights in the distance, but as they drew closer and closer to their destination, Rukia's expression lifted as the lights and shapes took the form of a carnival. Though they traveled a long distance, Ichigo would do it a million times if it meant seeing Rukia's eyes light up the way they just did again.

"I couldn't find anything interesting in Karakura Town to do, so I did a little searching around and now here we are, in a carnival six towns over." Rukia only nodded in response, too excited to talk before eagerly racing to the entrance of the amusement park. Ichigo caught up to her at the entrance and bought their tickets, unable to hold in a smile as her joy seemed to be highly contagious. He watched as she marveled at all of the lights, and colors, and attractions. Despite all the intriguing sights the carnival had to offer, it was one particular item that seemed to capture the small Death god's attention.

"Ichigo, what is this?" She asked, closely inspecting a cotton candy making machine. "It seems to be materializing... strangely hued clouds?"

"Stop staring at things so much." he ordered, noticing the cotton candy salesman confused expression at her antics. "You look like freak."

"And that machine makes a snack called cotton candy." Her look of irritation was quickly replaced with one of confusion.

"Cotton candy?" she repeated, contemplating the name. "I believe I may have read of such in a manga." she finally stated.

"Do you want me to buy you some?" he asked as she continued to stare at the swirling motion of the cotton candy machine. She contemplated the peculiarity of the candied treat before slowly nodding her head in acceptance of his offer. Upon receiving the snack that resembled a giant pink bunny's amputated tail on a paper cone, she was completely clueless as to how to consume the supposed human delicacy and attempted to stuff the candied cotton in her mouth.

"No, midget!" Ichigo warned before the sticky candy messed up her face. "You break it off piece by piece." he stated, plopping a piece into his own mouth for emphasis. She followed his example, and her eyes widened in fascination as her tongue was met with an almost sickeningly sweet flavor the moment it made contact with the soft treat.

"It's so sweet!" she exclaimed before consuming another mouthful. "It's kind of messy though." she said referring to the residue of the substance on her fingers.

"That's because it's literally spun sugar and food coloring." he lead her to another food stand where she was able to pick up a couple of napkins. "I'm not a big fan of it myself, but a lot of people really like it."

She was about to reply when a large colorful tent captured her attention and caused her to raise a brow in question.

"What's in there?"

* * *

"What did you think?"

"Hmm. It was alright, though nothing compared to a good hollow fight."

"Yeah, after constantly risking your life fighting hollows, roller coasters kind of lose their touch." Rukia nodded her head in agreement with his words.

"The circus show was amazing though! The animals were fascinating! And how did those people do that with their bodies?!" She asked before taking a bite of her Onigiri.

"Lot's of practice. They more than likely trained their whole lives to be that flexible." he replied before throwing out the wrapper from his own finished Onigiri into a nearby waste bin.

"What can we do now?" Rukia asked swallowing her last bit of Onigiri, not noticing a bit of rice on the side of her mouth.

"Rukia, you got a little..." he pointed to the spot on her face that the rice stuck to and she quickly wiped her face with the napkins she was holding and muttered a quick 'Arigatou', to which he merely nodded and continued to speak.

"We could go on the Ferris Wheel. But it's really slow and it'll probably get boring pretty fast."

"No point in wasting time on that then." she said as they passed the Ferris Wheel with no more than a glance.

"You sure you don't want to go on so you can feel big and tall when it reaches the top?" this time, he swiftly sidestepped her anticipated hit.

"Are you _trying_ to start an argument with me?!"

"You make it too _easy_, midget!" he stated, unable, however, to avoid her unanticipated kick to his shin. His small groan of pain merely caused a smirk to brighten Rukia's features.

"Learn some respect for your date, Ichigo." she taunted before starting to walk away, soon seeing Ichigo catch up and walk by her side in her peripheral vision, snickering to herself as she saw him trying and failing to hold in a limp.

"You need your dad to check out that leg, Strawberry?" she taunted, earning herself a small glare from her Substitute Shinigami.

"Tch. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm perfectly fine." he stated and Rukia laughed as she saw him try even harder to hide the pain she had inflicted on him.

"Well, since we exhausted most of the attractions, we may as well go home."

"Wait, but it's still only late afternoon, there are plenty more things to do!" Truthfully, when Rukia had mockingly called herself Ichigo's date, she had reminded herself that she wasn't supposed to be having such a good time and she couldn't forget that by the end of the night, she had to find a way to make the date end badly. She couldn't forget. She absolutely **_could not_** forget.

"I'm bored and tired and I'm starting to feel a headache coming on." she lied, feeling bad about having to say she was having a bad time after all the work he put into it. But it was all for the greater good in the end.

"I'm just ready to go ho-" she froze, stopping dead in her tracks at the glorious sight that had so abruptly greeted her undeserving eyes.

"I need that! How do I get that?" Ichigo, still disappointed at her saying she wasn't having a good time looked up half-heartedly at whatever it was she was referring to. His features brightened significantly, however, when the sight before him gave him the idea for his final attempt to make sure Rukia had fun.

"That's a game where you have to toss the rings over the tops of the bottles." he stated with a smirk, not even sure if she was listening with how mesmerized she was by the carnival game booth. "If you win, you get any large plush chappy doll of your choice."

And after those words, all else was forgotten.

* * *

"Come on, Ichigo!" Rukia shouted with impatience. "You've been losing this game for over an hour! Let me try!" Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in irritation before he finally turned to acknowledge her.

"You're over exaggerating the time, midget!"

"Well, it feels like we've been here for more than an hour, so move the hell over and let me win my Chappy plush toy!"

"No, I already told you! The guy wins the prize for the girl!"

"Ugh! Not this gender role crap, again! Move out of my way, fool!"

The blond teen at the stand snickered at the couple's argument before shooting Ichigo a mocking smirk.

"Looks like you can't please your woman." he stated before shooting Rukia a flirty glance, his green eyes flashing with lust. "How about you dump this loser and give me a kiss and I'll give you any Chappy you want, free of charge."

Ichigo felt his hands ball into fists as he boiled with anger. As if he wasn't already annoyed enough with this unbeatable carnival game. However, before he had the chance to shove his zanpaktou up this prick's ass, he felt a small, but firm hand grasp his arm and pull him back. The hand, unsurprisingly belonged to his small, death god companion, he stumbled backwards a couple steps before catching his balance. He shot a glare at his raven haired date who had stepped in front of him, and was about to ask what her problem was when her hand suddenly lashed out and grabbed the blond flirt by the collar of his carnival uniform shirt.

"Now you listen here. There are a select few people who are reserved the right to insult Ichigo, and you are not on the list."

_'I'll assume that list consists of most of Seiretei, though.'_ Ichigo thought with an exasperated sigh.

"Ichigo is a lot of things, but the last thing _anyone_ has the right to call him is a loser, especially not a guy surrounded by stuffed bunnies who tries to _bribe_ girls into kissing him." she said, causing him to gulp as she further tightened her hold around his shirt collar. "Now I ask that you kindly give me three more rings, and keep any unnecessary comments you may have about me or my companion to yourself."

She released him from her grip and immediately, three rings were dropped from shaking pale hands into her own. Without even a second thought, or a moment of observation, she angrily threw her three rings and both boy's eyes widened in amazement when all three looped around the tops of the bottles. Rukia picked a Chappy dressed up as a pirate as her prize before angrily stomping away from the stand.

"How did you do that so easily?!" Ichigo exclaimed as they walked away from the stand, outraged that he had worked so hard, and she had won the prize with no effort. "Can't you ever just do what you're supposed to? Even when I came to rescue you in Soul Society, you got mad and opposed me instead of just sitting back and letting me save you like girls are supposed to." Rukia gave a small smile at his complaints, remembering their bickering when he came to Soul Society.

"How about this, Ichigo. How about we forget gender roles and instead of me being 'the girl' and you being 'the guy', I'll just be Rukia and you be Ichigo?" he smirked at her words before shaking his head.

"Whatever, you never acted how you were supposed to anyhow." he stated, ruffling her hair. She merely smiled and smacked his hand away.

"...I know we argue a lot and sometimes you may think of me as a pest... But you are my comrade, and I will always defend and protect you with my life." Ichigo blinked, surprised by her sudden sentimental words for a moment, before quickly matching her determined smile.

"Hn, Midget. That's my line."

"What about whoever doesn't win the most stuffed animals by the end of the night has to be the winner's slave for a whole day?"

"You're making this too easy for me, shortie! You're on!

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, boke. Luck hasn't exactly been in your favor with carnival games." she stated as she mockingly waved the large pirate Chappy she had just won.

"That was just a fluke. I'll definitely win more prizes! May I suggest the basketball shooting game?""

* * *

"Hmm, what was that about me making this too easy for you?" she stated happily as he pushed her and their cart load of stuffed animal prizes across the gigantic parking lot.

"Shut up, you only won by one prize, and it was that stupid Chappy pirate from the beginning!"

"Hmph! Guess that guy was right. I guess you _are_ a loser, and a sore won at that." she teased him before cuddling with her new Chappy that was more than half her size. He merely grumbled _'bitch'_ under his breath, but continued to push her across the parking lot. "I can't believe we won so many prizes, the carnival had to give us a cart just to carry them all! Though I believe I saw two other families with cartloads as well."

"Yeah, we lost track of time and missed the 8:30 bus." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled copy of the bus schedule. "The next bus that will take us home doesn't come until 11:05."

"Well last we checked, it's a little after ten now, right?" Ichigo checked his phone, deleting what felt like the eightieth text from his old man telling him, _"you better do your date before you come home tonight, because she is sure as hell never going to go out with you again after this and then I'll never have grandbabies!"_

"It's 10:13 to be exact." he stated, hiding his annoyance with his old goat of a dad. "So we have more than 45 minutes to kill time until the next bus."

"Well, what do you wanna do?" Rukia asked as she happily sat atop her mountain of stuffed animals.

"To be honest, we should probably give all of these stuffed animals away." He was surely expecting violent protests but he was surprised to receive a mere solemn nod.

"You're right, we can't take this cart onto the bus, and I don't think all these stuffed animals will fit in your dirty old closet. we are going to have to give them away. I just don't want to part with my beautiful stuffed babies!"

"My closet isn't dirty! And please don't ever say babies in front of my dad." he pleaded as his phone buzzed with another degrading text message from his perverted father.

"Ichigo, can I push the cart now?"

"Hmm, why do you want to push the cart?" he asked, contemplating her intentions.

"I just want to." she insisted, hopping out of the cart. Ichigo was about to question her further, but decided against it and simply let her take the handle of the plush toy filled cart. He had been pushing her slightly uphill for a while and even though he wasn't that tired, he wouldn't deny himself a break. Rukia grabbed the handlebar, but didn't move, and merely looked at him expectantly.

"I'm not sitting in the cart, Rukia." he denied, knowing exactly what she wanted from him.

"Please! If you don't, you might not be able to catch up!"

"What?"

"Just sit! Please!" before he could answer, Rukia pulled the cart backwards and rammed it straight into the back of his legs, not enough to hurt him much, but enough to make him lose his balance and fall backwards into the cart.

"Here we go!" she exclaimed as she suddenly ran full speed through the long parking lot. Ichigo silently marveled at her strength as she pushed them up the incline of the parking lot, but her true motives were revealed as they reached its peak.

"Rukia! Don't let us get hit be a car you idiot!" he yelled as she jumped unto the back of the cart while they raced down the decline of the lot. Most people had left, so there weren't many cars, but there were still quite a few left.

"It's ok! I'm already dead!" she assured him.

"Well, I'm _not!_ Selfish midget!" So much for their previous promise to protect each other.

* * *

"I think this is the last house on the block." stated the orange-haired teen.

"I really wish I could see the look on the kids' faces when the see the stuffed animals." she said tiredly, with a yawn quick to follow.

"Do you want me to carry you back to the bus stop?" he asked, though his offer was met by the profuse shaking of her head.

"Hell no! If anything, _I_ should carry _you_ after all you've done for me!"

"Pfft. As if you could, midget." though he barely got the statement out before something rammed into his stomach causing him to slightly keel over and before he knew it, he was being carried over the shoulder of his small companion. One arm holding him in place, and the other dragging along her Chappy doll (the one plush toy she kept).

"Oi! Rukia! What the hell?!" he asked, though the girl in question just continued to walk with him in her arms. He searched around frantically to make sure no one saw him in this position and ruined his image.

"Ok, I get it! You're strong! Now put me down!" he ordered, and the shinigami complied to his wishes and released him from her hold.

"Arigatou! And don't you forget it!" she proclaimed (though she'd never admit that he was the heaviest thing she had ever carried). He let out a grunt of annoyance as his feet touched the ground again, though he would never admit his amusement at her will to prove herself.

They walked through the town, lit by the car lights and shop windows, and arrived at the bus stop about five minutes before its arrival time.

"So..." the substitute shinigami asked slyly. "How was your day?"

"Are you seriously asking me that? Today was terrific! I had so much fu-" she was stopped by her own words and the victorious smirk on Ichigo's face.

She had just admitted to having a great time on their date.

She had just indirectly agreed to go out with him...

**Hope you enjoyed! I'm seriously doing my best to get the next chapter out ASAP! Everything that consumed my time before is finished now, so I have quite a bit of free time! Also, I'd like to congratulate ej for guessing where the date was going to be. However, ej was an anonymous reviewer and no one else guessed right so there were no character appearances. Sorry. Please Review and tell me what you like, dislike, or or any errors I need to correct! Thanks for reading!**

_"At the end of the game, the King and the Pawn go into the same box."_


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